Forgotten Nights
by poppybird123
Summary: Isabelle Webbe finds herself in a difficult situation after she dicovers who the real murderer of her mother was. Her closest friend Charlie Sammonds undertook a serious change over the summer that left him alien, powerful and hungry.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1.

The world appeared before her in a blur as she blinked the sleep from her eyes before snuggling deeper between the linen sheets.

"Miss Webbe?" peeped a nervous voice

"Mmmh?"

"Your father would like you dressed for breakfast within the hour he says. Boxing Day is not a time for rest, he said"

She groaned as she sat up and the cold washed around her bare shoulders.

"Thank you Zinky, wait outside for a bit please"

With a pop, the house elf disappeared from the room as she dragged the dead-weight of her body out of the four poster bed. Her shadow fell onto the wall in front of her, cast by the large double doors leading to the balcony and revealing her slim build and the matted mess of her long tousled hair.

"Eruuughhh" she groaned out loud as she walked across the shag pile carpet towards her en suite, the cold air enveloping her naked form. After hopping into the shower to wake herself up, she dried her hair with a quick blast from the hairdryer, pulling it up into a loose bun on the back of her head. With a quick glance in the mirror, revealing tanned, clear skin and large green eyes, she nodded with what appeared to be approval, deeming herself presentable. She called Zinky back and got him to pack her bags. She was leaving for school.

*

Isabelle stepped into the Slytherin common room from the fire, brushing off the ash that had accumulated on her robes. She looked striking against the backdrop of the flames, her slight figure accentuated by the dancing light. Stepping forward, she scanned the common room for anyone she knew and on finding her friends to be elsewhere, wandered to an empty chair a few feet from a striking boy with dark hair, who was watching her intently. She looked around the people and a flicker of recognition crossed her eyes as she saw Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson. Her eyes lingered on the tall, dark haired boy for a while before looking down and dragging a book out of her bag. She had caught his eye the year before when they were in 5th year. He had dismissed her as immature. _This year had been different though _he thought, _over summer, she's blossomed and become more mysterious, more introvert._ His eyes lingered on her straight figure and eyes that seemed to draw the breath from anyone who looked for too long. It was like falling into an abyss. _It's enough to make anyone want her, let alone me, who could have had her._ He thought.

"BLAISE" He jumped out of his skin on hearing his name "are you listening? I asked whether you've done that essay for McGonagall."

"Nah of course not Draco. I don't think I'm even going to class. I can't be bothered. We've got a couple of days left until school starts anyway"

His eyes flicked back to Isabelle as she lifted hers to see who was talking. He had an inexplicable, overwhelming urge to jump up and hit someone to prove himself under her discerning stare.

"Yes, but if we don't do it she'll give us detention and we'll miss quidditch practice" drawled Draco, almost purring as Pansy played with his hair.

"Well I can't do it. I don't understand transfiguration. Although I wish I did. When mad-eye transformed you into that ferret two years ago…" everyone grinned cautiously, being careful not to offend the 'Slytherin Prince'. However, Isabelle's eyes lit up and her lips parted revealing her perfect smile as she threw her head back slightly and laughed. Draco shot her a deathly stare which she ignored, much to Pansy's disgust.

"I can help you with it if you want" she said, her smile lingering on her lips but no longer in her eyes.

"What?" Blaise asked blankly

"With the assignment. I've done mine and I don't mind you copying it. We can do it later if you want"

"Oh, right yeah of course. Thanks Iz. After dinner maybe? In the library?"

*

There were butterflies in my stomach as I sat at dinner. Why on earth did I offer to help BLAISE? _The things I will do for a boy that makes me laugh_, I thought, chastising myself.

"IZZYY" I was enveloped into a hug so tight I couldn't breathe and as I pushed her arms away I smiled.

"Hey Sarah. Oh, hey Charlie!"

"WHEN DID YOU GET HERE?" continued Sarah, her thick blonde hair pulled out of her face brusquely revealing her bright blue eyes and lightly freckled skin.

"About half an hour ago. I've already offered to help Zabini with a project. I'm such a bloody do gooder"

"Oh Izzy why did you do that? He's an arrogant git. Isn't he Charlie?!" she turned to Charlie, with his curly brown hair and rounded features. He turned and his lips curled at the sides.

"Leave her alone Sarah. She clearly wants him. Let her go for it" he gave me a calculated wink. _Every action he made was planned, _she observed, _He used to be jumbled and all over the place, but when he came back after summer he had changed_. It's not that I didn't like the new Charlie, it was just disconcerting. He could reach for objects and pick them up first time, without even looking at them. He'd become good at flying, and paid painful attention in defence against the dark arts.

"Oh shut up you dick" I laughed, blowing him a kiss, a hungry look of appreciation flashing into his eyes "I guess I've got to go to the library then… I'll see you around Sarah and you in the common room Charlie. You'd better wait up"

_It was difficult with Sarah_, I thought as I trotted up the staircase towards the library_, because she's in Ravenclaw she can't really stay with us for long. She's not confident enough_. I slipped into the library and took my hair out of the bun I'd put it in this morning. It fell about my shoulders in natural waves and I fluffed it out, pulling the front out of my face and looking at my reflection in the window.

"Merlin" I said under my breath, realising I'd been primping myself "maybe I really DO want Blaise"

I pulled my hair back into a bun, adjusted my robes and sat and waited on a table in clear view of the door. I was waiting for about 15 minutes before I got impatient and began walking around looking for interesting books. _Or maybe Blaise._ I wasn't sure which.

"Isabelle!" I spun around, with a flirtatious look – it had to be Blaise. I found myself looking into a pair of piercing grey eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2.

_Why couldn't he tell that stupid girl that he co__uldn't go himself? Sending me to do errands for him. It's not the way it goes. He knows who my father is. _Draco pushed himself into the library, searching for a glimpse of long dark hair. He didn't see it.

"For God sake…" He breathed as he began to wander the aisles. _Why would she walk off? Maybe she's left already. In which case this was a waste of my time._

As he turned the corner, Draco saw Isabelle holding her lit wand with a small book in her hands. Her hair was messier than it had been before. _Had she taken it down to impress Blaise and then tired it back up again? Why would she want Blaise? Her features were so slight. Angular eyes, tanned, flawless skin, tapered ears. WHY DO YOU CARE, _he thought aggressively. _You're here to tell her about Blaise._ He told himself. _It's always best to keep a distance from those with a connection to you_, e_specially one as strong as hers._

"Isabelle!" He reached out, hesitated, and then grabbed her shoulder. She spun around and transfixed him with her beautiful, playful eyes. Her face dropped when she realised who it was.

"Draco." She replied smartly, looking back to her book. _I don't think I've ever had a pure blood look at me with anything but respect_. _Especially HER._ A snarl spread onto his face, but before she had a chance to look back up to register it, he continued to fix it into a sarcastic smile, his eyes narrowing.

"Blaise can't come" he sneered "sorry, looks like he didn't care that much about anything you had to say. Pansy's helping him instead"

"thanks." She turned and walked off gracefully. Everything she did seemed calculated, like a cat. He was transfixed as she walked away. And he was pretty sure she knew it.

*

"ERUGH" dark-hair-bright-eye-Izzy shouted. "He's such a creep. There was no need for him to be such… such a PRICK" I nodded along from where I lolled on a sofa in front of the bright-dancing-heat-fire. _I enjoy watching her. Her actions are so precise and feline._ _It's most endearing, _I thought to myself, _but her thoughts are cloudy, which is disappointing._ I was always unimpressed that her thoughts were not as calm as her body language. I was tired, it was half past 12, but it was the holidays and she seemed genuinely bothered about ferret-face-Malfoy.

"Honestly Iz. I don't care. And you know I don't. So essentially I don't know why we're here. But okay. Malfoy is just like that. He's always been like that. Blaise wasn't revising with Parkison. He had to talk to Snape about something. So stop stressing. McGonagall wanted to see you by the way. Something about animagus. I wasn't really listening"

"Oh shit really? I need to go see her as soon as possible then. I'll go tomorrow. I've mastered it anyway."

"Well that's good" I said and turned toward the bright-hot-flame-fire, and when I turned back there was a black lynx staring pointedly towards me. Its eyes were green and angled, the ears tapered with tufts of hair on the ends.

"It's got much better. Last year you were hardly recognisable as a cat, let alone a lynx"

"I told you so" it purred contentedly "I'm going up to the boy's dorm to see what havoc I can wreak in Malfoy's room"

"Okay" I mumbled "I really don't care" and drifted off into soft-sleep-awake-dreams.

*

I slid up the stairs. The silence with which I could walk and the shadows I could blend in to never failed to amaze me. _It must_, I purred, _have been a surprise for my parents when they had come into my room when I was 1 and found a small cat like creature curled in my cot_. A cough like noise escaped from my throat as I laughed to myself. At first I couldn't consciously change my form, or stop myself changing. That's why I had to have private tuition all my life. If I got too stressed, or my emotions ran high, my body would resort to its animagus form. It was a gift rather than a problem, as it provided a release, allowed me a second existence. When I first came to Hogwarts, McGonagall was the first person that came to find me, offering tuition and advice about my unnatural but not unheard of ability. Therefore, the only people that knew of my gift were my parents, Charlie, and a few more trusted Hogwarts staff. It proved quite useful as I slunk up the stairs to the boy's dorms, heading towards Malfoy's room. I wasn't going to do anything major. Just move things about a bit. For amusement rather than malice. My ears flicked towards whispers coming from inside the room

_Shit, _I thought, _he's in there. Well that ruins my fun. _I turned to leave, my small body making turning on the narrow staircase as simple as a person in the great hall.

"Did you tell her I was sorry?" said one mumbled voice. I thanked my lucky stars cats hearing was sharper than a humans

"Of course not, I'm not you're fucking messenger" came the reply "all I said was that you couldn't make it. Now shut up and get over it"

"Draco! You have to admit… there's something about her. I don't believe Snape made me go for extra potions practice! I could've used that time to… oh I don't know"

"You're pathetic. Shut up and stop pining after some girl. There's nothing special about her"

"Oh you can talk. Pansy Parkinson for the win I guess?"

"Fuck off"

I purred in satisfaction. Malfoy was having a tough enough time listening to Zabini's ramblings. _I wonder what he was talking about._ The size of a cat's brain confuses human thought processes occasionally. Then it dawned on me, _me? He's pining over me? How odd_. I slid around the door slowly so that it wouldn't be noticed. At that moment, I thanked Hogwarts for the fact they had magical candles that cast shadows perfect for hiding in.

My eyes fell upon Draco and could not be turned away. His blonde hair was tousled where he had removed his shirt to expose his torso. _And what a torso…_ I thought to myself and purred in satisfaction. The ridges of his six-pack were accentuated by the candle light, and as he turned to hang his shirt up his back muscles rippled. _Quidditch is definitely his sport… _my eyes drifted to Blaise who was still fully clothed, red faced and angry. There was something attractive about his gait, his defensiveness. His dark hair fell over his slanted eyes and framed his square jaw. It was obvious he took after his famed-beauty of a mother. Turning back towards the door, I padded out with a mind to return to Charlie.

"In all honesty Blaise" drawled Draco as I began the descent to the common room, "the way she looked at me earlier in the library just oozed lust…"

I jumped back up the four steps I had climbed down and settled myself in the shadow by the door frame. She wanted to hear this.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3.

The fire-in-the-sky-sun was high when I woke in my small-comfort-dungeon-dorm. The bed next to me was empty, the silver and green covers left in a pile in the centre of the bed. I squinted as the light hit me, waiting for the dizziness to subside, and contemplated all that dark-hair-bright-eyed-Isabelle had told me the night before when she had run down the stairs at two o'clock. _It seems obvious_ I thought _that they both find her fascinating_. _I'm not sure how she would like that news though,_ _she likes to keep herself to herself. She's had her flings… but I don't understand what goes on in her cloudy-swirly-cat- mind anymore._ Summer had made me distant from warm-blood-damp-smell-human emotions. I was still yet to tell bright-eye-Isabelle about what happened but it seemed unnecessary at this moment. _She will ask when she needs to know._

I tugged on some clothes and walked to the common room where my eyes wandered to ferret-face-blonde-Draco sitting on his own in Charlie's-green-black-morning-chair, next to the only window in the green lantern-lit common room.

"I normally sit there in the morning. To think." I said to him blankly. _As much as I wish he was not in my chair,_ I thought, _his thoughts are oddly strangled today. It is of interest._

"Well you'll have to find somewhere else wont you" snapped blank-face-angry-eyed-Draco, turning towards me.

"I didn't ask you to move. I merely stated that it's a nice place to think. You should listen sometimes" There was a pause. When I realised that angry-eyed-blank-face-Draco wasn't going to reply, I continued, "So Isabelle looked at you in a way that "oozed lust" did she?"

Draco's head snapped around and he intensified his stare.

"Charlie, right? It would do you good not to eavesdrop on my dorm room. You might hear something you don't want to"

"Oh. It wasn't me" I said as I sauntered out of the dungeon door, extending my mind until I touched Isabelle's thoughts in a classroom a few doors down.

I walked into the room and looked around. _I can't see her, but I can sense her tangled-web-confused-thoughts. She must be hidden._

"Iz?" I enquired quietly. When there was no answer, I again stretched my mind and followed the pattern of her thoughts underneath the desk. There was the Izzy-mind-not-body-cat I'd been looking for, curled into a ball asleep. I scooped her up and she relaxed into his arms and positioned myself in the corner of the stone-damp-wall-classroom and waited for her to come out of her trance.

*

Half an hour later, the mind-not-body-cat began to stir and I placed her on the cold-hard-ground so she could stand on her own. She was hunched and weak. I stared at the cat, waiting patiently for mind-and-body-Izzy. As I blinked, she transformed and a dishevelled blank-eye-dark-hair Isabelle sat in front of me. I raised a dark eyebrow in curiosity.

"Draco..." She said in her stutter-confused-strangled-voice. I felt my dark stare intensify as I continued to peer into her tear-filled-green-eyes, until she continued. "his dad… his dad is a death eater… is THE death eater…"

I nodded sharply. I knew what she meant. As she cried, I watched her struggle with her mind-not-body-animagus form, as she tried to stop herself changing.

"Change and I'll carry you back to the dorm and sit with you until you decide what you want to do"

She collapsed into my arms, all at once a black lynx again, while I tried to keep myself in tune with weak-jumbled-human emotions. Both mine and hers. To make sure she was okay.

*

_I wonder if she's angry with me_, Blaise thought as he scanned the great hall for her at dinner the next day. _I was hoping to catch her eyes and re-organise the meeting _he consoled himself, but he could not if she was nowhere in sight.

"Hey Zabini" said Pansy, sitting next to him in an attempt to be as near to Draco, who was opposite, as she could be.

"How's the _girlfriend_?" she mocked, glancing at Draco to see if he was listening. A flicker of irritation crossed her face as he didn't even glance up.

"She's not my girlfriend she was just helping me, and I don't know where she is."

"She hasn't been out of her dorm today" replied Draco, not looking up from a copy of the evening times he was reading "I think that Charlie Sammonds boy is with her."

"Sammonds is dishy you know Draco… Do you not think Millicent?" she addressed Bullstrode while staring straight at Draco. _She really was being pathetic._

"He said something to me this morning" replied Draco; merely smirking at Pansy. _He thinks he's Gods gift to women with that smirk_, Blaise smiled to himself.

"It was about something we were talking about last night Blaise"

"When?" His head snapped up and my looked darkened "what part of the conversation…?" _and how did he hear us? There was no one else around._

"The part about Isabelle staring at me with a look full of lust" he winked at Blaise then, fixing him with his mocking, piercing gaze. Pansy huffed next to him and got up to leave. It left Blaise and Draco sitting opposite each other.

"Well that doesn't mean he knows the other part, does it? And besides, we were asleep for hours before you got that owl from your mother."

"It's true" he leant back slightly, emanating relaxation "in all honesty, it doesn't matter. She's been dead this past year, people will probably have forgotten about it. Just a pity the ministry needed to bring it up again; more years in Azkaban for father and all that"

"Yeah, it is" A knot was forming in Blaise's stomach as I thought about the information Draco had divulged the night before. _If she knows, I should go and talk to her, _he thought, _if only I knew where she was._ As he scanned the room one last time, Charlie Sammonds sauntered across the great hall and sat a few feet away from him. Malfoy gave him a disconcerted look and grunted his excuses before leaving the table. Blaise's eyes studied the boy next to him; his brown hair had become darker over the summer and his eyes seemed wilder and as the boy glanced up at him, he was sure I saw a glint of red, a flash of…hunger. _I can see why he and Isabelle are friends_; _their personalities suit each other_. _Where is she?_ Blaise's idle thoughts wondered as he turned away from Charlie's piercing gaze.

"She's in the common room at the moment. She's been recovering from some news." He said as if answering the question I had just asked in my head.

"What news?" Charlie merely stared blankly; _I take it that means he can't tell me?_ Thought an uncomfortable Blaise

"Yes, I cannot tell you"

_What the… _Blaise thought, feeling more uncomfortable than he ever had before under the excruciating gaze of this boy.

"Is she okay? Will she want to see me or not?" he continued hurriedly, anxious to be away.

"It will be fine. Just don't do anything stupid. She's… cold… at the moment"

Wondering what on earth he meant, Blaise scrambled up with as much haste as he could muster without looking scared or rude, shoved the last of his toast into his mouth and ran out of the hall.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4.

_How could he have heard us? _Malfoy thought as he wandered aimlessly around the dungeons _it's not like it was anything important. But still. If he'd stayed just a little longer, he'd have heard everything_. An iota of panic spread through his limbs. Snarling, he shook it off and turned left towards the common room. He pushed his way through the wall after mumbling the password and stopped stock still, face to face with Isabelle. Her face contorted in anguish and she snarled at him.

"Stay away from me" she said through gritted teeth

Confused, he replied "I never wanted to be near you. Don't you worry" forcing himself past her and sitting in the chair by the window, he dragged out a potions book Professor Slughorn had leant him at his Christmas party a few weeks before. She turned swiftly and sidled over. Her gaze made him agitated but he proceeded to ignore her and read.

"I know about your conversation last night. I'm glad your dad is going to be in Azkaban for another three years. Let's hope a dementor sucks out his soul." She sneered, radiating waves of aggression.

"Who was this eavesdropper that appears to have invisibility powers?" Draco cooed softly, not looking up from a page about love potions. "They seem to know quite a lot about my business"

"I am! And it's not just your business _Malfoy_, it affects me as well" and with what sounded much like a sob, she ran towards the girls dorm rooms.

It didn't prove a problem that she knew. It just made things awkward. And in all honesty he wasn't bothered about her feelings anyway. Throwing the book into his bag, he turned as Blaise walked into the common room, looking about searchingly.

"Looking for Isabelle?" He sneered. _Blaise's adoration of her is getting tedious to say the least_ he thought, _it makes me irritable_. With Crabbe and Goyle spending most of their time with Snape and retaking their OWLS, he was thoroughly bored most of the time.

"Yes. I am. I don't care. I'm going to her dorm I'm fed up of this" Draco sneered appreciatively at this. _Clearly he has never tried getting into the girls dorms before._ As Blaise took the steps two at a time, the stairs smoothed to form a giant slide, forcing him to slide down a few feet. Cursing, he put a sticky charm on his feet and plodded up regardless. _That was disappointing_ Draco thought _I would have liked the satisfaction of seeing him sprawled at my feet._

_*_

I looked up as Blaise entered the room. I knew that a boy tried to walk up the staircase by the excited squeals that came from the younger students. I returned to pouring over the book I was supposed to have read before tomorrow, the start of the new term. My eyes flickered up involuntarily and caught Blaise standing awkwardly by the door.

"Hey" he took advantage of my natural instinct to focus on movement.

"hi." I responded blankly, scolding myself for being foolish enough to make eye contact. _The last thing I want,_ I thought, _is Malfoy's mate jeering at me._

"I didn't know either, you know. I would have told you last year when we… when we were going out." He finished, shoulders sagging slightly as he realised how pathetic he sounded.

"I'm fine. You can leave me alone. I've had a year to get over my mothers death. It was merely a shock to find that I shared classes with the son of her 'unknown' killer" I was impressed with how even my voice had remained, how dry my eyes were, how the corner of my mouth curled up as I jeered at the ministry for their stupidity. _Charlie would have known straight away that I am not as calm as I seem,_ her mind wandered as her eyes returned to her book, _I need to find out about that. It cannot just be that he's become more in tune with his feminine side._ Another flicker of movement. This time, I did not raise my eyes, in the hope that it meant he had left the room. _Great, _I thought as I felt the bed dip. I did not glance up then, but scowled. I poured all my hurt into the look I gave to this intruder on my personal space, ensuring that all I showed was anger.

"I'm sorry" his face contorted in unease as he looked into my eyes, "for not being able to meet you last night. And for Malfoy. And… and for last year"

I eyed him curiously. _Is he trying to tell me something?_ My eyes scanned his face. _He certainly looked uncomfortable. _I knew that look from the year before when he had first asked me to go out with him. Except then, there had been an air of haughty arrogance that was not there now.

"Its fine" I smiled softly, the friendly gesture stopping short of my eyes, which were still deep and searching. "Don't worry about it. And thank you for coming to check I was okay. How did you get up the stairwell?"

Blaise laughed, clearly appreciating the change of subject and the lift in the atmosphere.

"I used a sticking charm on my feet and just plodded up. Nearly got knocked off my feet by a couple of first years though."

I smiled. I had forgotten how comfortable I felt around Blaise. _His eyes don't send tingle down my spine anymore_,I thought, pleased. _That mean's I've learnt some self control._ The atmosphere remained cheerful as we chatted, and we ended up lying on the bed, he stretched at the bottom with a pillow behind his head and I sat cross-legged opposite.

"It's getting dark" Blaise nodded toward the window. "If you need to talk, you can come to my dorm. They seem to trust girls more than boys here, our staircase doesn't turn into a giant slide" he smiled, and got up to leave. I sat up and instinctively grabbed his wrist. I did not want to be left alone. I could feel the nagging, sluggish sadness beginning to wash over me again. He turned around and looked at me with dark, chocolate eyes. _I look like a right plum_, I thought, realising I was gawping, trying to find words.

"Erm. I wanted to say thank you. I think. I'm not… yeah" I felt my cheeks flush and immediately looked down to hide myself behind my loose hair. Blaise removed his arm from my grip. _Nice one Isabelle,_ _now he thinks you're an idiot._ I heard the swish of a cloak and moaned inwardly. A hand cupped my chin and I looked up to find Blaise staring into my eyes.

"I'm always here." His lips brushed against my forehead, making my spine tingle, before he left.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5.

"Idiot…" mumbled hot-head-dull-eyes Sarah for the 5th time. "You should have just let him leave."

"He seemed genuinely nice" Bright-eyed-Isabelle replied, shrugging "he CARED! And it'll be a nice way to get back at Malfoy"  
"How so?" The flower-scent-soft-touch-girls jumped at my input, it being the first thing I had said.

"Well, Zabini is the only person he has to be around at the moment. Except Parkinson. But that's hardly fun for him, is it?" she laughed. _When Isabelle laughs, _I observed, _the room seems to light up._

"Well I still think you were stupid. And he KISSED you! What if he's playing you again Isabelle?"

_Sarah, _I thought, _is too protective of Isabelle. She is both less experienced and less knowledgeable, regardless of whether she is a Ravenclaw. She will, eventually, push her away._ Isabelle's thoughts, I knew, were already tangled with thought of her mother and she did not want to be lectured. They grew more agitated, twisting and turning as Sarah continued to talk.

"Shut up Sarah. If he's playing me, that's fine. I'll play him back. I just want to make Malfoy's life worse. Okay?" hot-head-Sarah glared at her, before stalking off. _She's such an idiot_ I heard Sarah think, _she's only going to get hurt again…_

"Sarah might be right Isabelle" I said quietly, as stubby-morsel-Flitwick walked past, examining our final heating charm.

"Lovely, lovely" he said, absent minded, as he sauntered past.

"Don't you start Charlie. Trust my judgement please." So far, the new-leaves-spring term had been a disaster. Over the past week, hot-head-Sarah had already had an argument with two green-silver-snakey-Slytherins, bright-eye-Isabelle was becoming more besotted with dark-aura-Blaise as her anguish over her mother intensified, and I was hungry. For the first time this year. Truly hungry. As we left the classroom, I turned right, towards the staircase.

"Where are you going Charlie?" asked indignant-bright-eye-Izzy

"To see Snape. I'll see you at dinner" _Why is he going to see Snape? _I heard her think. I wished I could respond, but it was not seen as good etiquette to intrude on another's mind without permission. He trotted down the staircase, waiting as it turned towards the quickest route to Snape's dungeon office. On arrival, he knocked on the door.

"Come in" drawled a bored voice, from strong-shield-dark-mind-Snape.

"Professor..."

"I've been expecting you Sammonds. It's January and therefore time for you too feed I assume?"

"Yes, sir."

"It is an inconvenience this. Dumbledore has permitted you to be here ONLY because you're a day walker. If Sanguini had gone any further you would not still be here. You would be an outcast from society, following him around Transylvania."

"I know sir. I knew what he was doing though. I wasn't taken unawares" my mind searched for a break in his tough-dark-mental-armour.

"It would do you well not to use leglimency on me, boy" Snape snapped as he searched through a dusty-cold-cupboard. "I'm a practiced occlumens."

"I know sir, I'm sorry, it's just habit." And that it was. My mind automatically crawled around warm-soft-human minds these days. Primitive as they were, they were of interest.

"Here" warm-strong-shield-Snape said, handing me a large bottle of a thick red liquid. "It'll last the week. It should have subsided by then." _But if it has not,_ he radiated his thoughts;_ I may have to inform Dumbledore that you are unstable._

"Thank you sir" I said, leaving his cold-dingy-mould-office swiftly. I turned the corner and brought the bottle to my mouth. Salt-moist-warmth hit my sharp-sense-animal-nose. The smell I had been surrounded by since summer. The smell I had learnt to resist. The smell of the substance I craved. Whether the blood was human or not, it was all I needed. It filled my large-alien-drifting-consciousness as no other thought had since my first feed in summer with my Sire. The taste swilled around my mouth… the smell lingered in my nose… I felt my eyes brighten, my vision sharpen, and suddenly I could sense every living being within a mile. _An overwhelming wealth of life for me to feed on._ I tensed with the strain of staying put, not running to the nearest human form and sucking them dry. I forced myself into a dungeon-cell-cold-classroom, where the damp-mould-walls blotted out my sense of life. The warm salty taste still rested on my lips. _Now I really am everything I had wanted to become._ I smiled wildly, eyes glinting in the dull light.

Isabelle threw her head back at another not-so-funny comment Blaise made. Sarah's eyes narrowed as she sat, the third wheel, next to them by the lake. _Where the hell are you Charlie?_ She threw another pebble into the lake, trying to ignore the cooing coming from her apparently insane best friend.

"Hello" a husky voice whispered. She started and turned around, only to see the large stretch of grass and the grey mass of Hogwarts.

"I'm here" the voice said again, Sarah's head flicking round to face the lake again. Charlie was crouched in front of her, smiling. Isabelle looked up briefly before returning to her conversation. Something about Charlie's smile made Sarah anxious, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and there was an ache in the pit of her stomach. _Run_, her subconscious was telling her, _run._

His head tilted. The action made her think of a cat examining a mouse it had caught under its paw.

"How are you?" he asked, rolling sideways onto his hip, propping himself up on his left arm.

"Good thanks." She smiled. The feeling of gut-wrenching panic had disappeared along with the glint in Charlie's eyes. His eyes slipped out of focus for a split second before he turned them towards Isabelle.

"She still completely besotted then?" he asked

"Unfortunately" Sarah sighed, "I've been waiting here for about fifteen minutes with them. Where were you?"

"Dungeons. I had to talk to Snape."

"About summer?"

"Yes." She studied his face intently as he coughed uncomfortably and started a conversation with Blaise about the quidditch match the following morning. She noticed his cheeks were flushed red, though the rest of his skin was paler than ever. His eyes were dark, almost black, the pupils dilated. The effect was entrancing and made her want to surrender herself to the pearlescent teeth he had revealed by laughing with Blaise. _Stop, _she thought,_ it's just a side affect of his condition. Obviously it would be useful for humans to want to surrender themselves to him._

Charlie's head snapped round, fixing her with his gaze. She felt drawn forwards, and saw a flicker of red cross his eyes. It was enchanting; she leant nearer to him, wanting to be enveloped in his arms.

"Sarah!" shouted Isabelle, laughter fresh in her eyes. "Pay SOME attention will you. Are you going to the quidditch match tomorrow?"

"Oh, er, yeah of course" her eyes flickered back to Charlie's, who was staring intently towards the lake, looking troubled. "I wouldn't miss it for the world. But I'll be with my house"

"Fair enough" Isabelle replied, smiling warmly. Behind her back Blaise sneered at the unwanted Ravenclaw in his presence.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6.

The dorm room was empty when I got up. I glanced out the window and realised it must have been about 11. _Shit, the quidditch has already started_ I thought _I'm just going to have to miss it._ I tugged the front of my hair back out of my face, letting it tumble loosely over my shoulders and, putting on a loose jumper and leggings, padded down the stairs in my slippers. I stepped into the common room and stretched before I became aware there was another person watching me. It was Malfoy. His sharp grey eyes watched me as I stretched, taking in every detail of my movement, flickering down over my chest and then my legs. He gave a soft smile. The action surprised me,_ where's the sneer? The snide remark?_ I thought as he turned away and pulled his legs up to his chest on the chair he sat on.

"What's wrong with _you_ today?" I asked him, smiling fakely. He didn't answer. "Its rude to ignore people you know." Still no answer. "Will you fucking talk to me?" the anguish that had been bubbling slowly inside me since I overheard Malfoy's conversation with Blaise suddenly reached boiling point, spilling over the barrier of my mind. My mouth moved without thinking, streams of insults departing my lips, anything that hurt him, anything that caused a flicker of anger in his eyes. Action, reaction. The look of anger, repetition of the phrase that caused it.

"Enough." His voice echoed in the silence it had commanded. I gasped for breath, my mouth dry, and made myself look at him. His eyes were clouded with rage as he rose to his feet, slowly… slowly… for what felt like hours. I stepped backwards as he took a step towards me. Again, as my eyes remained transfixed on his. Again, until I was backed against the cool, smooth wall of the common room. My heart beat filled my ears with the rushing of blood, my shallow breathing softly ruffled his hair as he leant his head towards my neck… anticipation, his breath warm on my throat… pain, as he bit my flesh harder than was necessary to make me gasp. His hands pinned mine above my head forcefully, wrenching my shoulders as he pressed his lips against mine, pushing my head into the wall with a crack. The splitting pain filled my consciousness with nothing but the sensation of his lips parting mine, him biting my lip, the blood that spilt from it, salty in my mouth. I gasped with the pain as his nails dug into my wrists, letting it wash over me, easing away the anger. Hatred pushed against the pain as I bit his lip sharply, causing him to pull his head back. Using the advantage, I grabbed to soft flesh of his neck between my teeth and tugged at it, sliding one of my hands down his arm, shoulder, then up his top. I dragged my nails across his back, leaving deep grooves that made him hiss.

"Two can play at this game" I whispered into his ear, before he shoved me violently back into the wall. His hips moved into mine, his erection rubbing against my thigh as I moved it between his legs, and he slipped his wand out, running it down my top, tearing it along the line of his wand. It fell loosely off my shoulders revealing my bare chest. He bit my collar bone forcefully, the pain merging with the pleasure in my head as he moved slower and bit around my breasts aggressively.

Grabbing him by his hair, I tugged him back to eye level, examining his hard grey eyes. That glare knocked the breath out of me, I felt my airways constricting and my breathing shallow just looking at him. Or maybe that was his hand around my throat. I didn't know anymore. Reality had merged with fantasy, pain with pleasure, sense with lust.

"Enough" he said, and threw me against the wall again, walking up the stairs to his dorm room. I sat panting, trying to control my breathing. A wave of despair washed over me, I felt like I was drowning, like I'd swam out too deep and couldn't keep my head above the waves. Searing pain crawled over my body. I held her wrists in front of my eyes, watching them swim in and out of focus, thoughts lingering on the indentations he had left. Malfoy had left. I grabbed my face as a rush of agony spread across it. When I pulled my hand away, I realised it was damp. Tears were streaming down my face into my grazes. Grazes left by him. By Malfoy. The tears were streaming incessantly. I thought about my mother, her death, my fathers resorting to drink, letting the emotions truly possess my being for the first time since she died. The tears fell until they could fall no more.

Malfoy sat frozen on his bed. His face was hot and wet, but he did not know why. She had spoken about his father in Azkaban. His father being useless to everyone who knew him. His father hating him. Images and memories flashed through his mind of his father, Isabelle, his father, dementors, Isabelle, Isabelle's eyes flaring with anger, her skin giving under the pressure of his teeth. He shook his head in a useless attempt to collect his thoughts. He heard her walking up the stairs. He heard the floorboard creak, announcing her presence in his room. She sat next to him. He stared into her eyes. _She's been crying,_ he observed. The tears still stained her cheeks. She reached out and he flinched away from her. Her hand remained steady as she reached to wipe the tears from his face. _So that's why my face was wet._

"Blaise doesn't have to know" she said simply

"No, he doesn't"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7.

_Isabelle sauntered towards me in deep blue dress robes, their low neckline drawing my eyes down her body. She pressed herself close to me and kissed me softly before pulling me into the grounds and towards the lake,"shall we dance?" I ask, wrapping my arms around her. The moonlight reflected off the lake accentuating her beautiful features. Her eyelashes framed her beautiful and serene eyes as she gazed at me…_

"OI" Blaise's eyes snapped open, the harsh morning light on the silver bed hangings a harsh reality after his blissful dreams… "You were mumbling in your sleep. And if you don't get up soon, you're going to miss first lesson let alone breakfast." He turned his head to the right reluctantly to view a scantily garbed Malfoy, fresh from the shower. He glanced up and raised an eyebrow "I've already been down to breakfast"

Blaise dressed and sleepily hurried up the stairs to the Great Hall, sitting at the end of the table and shoving a croissant into his mouth.  
"Hey! Blaise!" the voice echoed in his ears, light and full of laughter. Isabelle sat down next to him and pecked his cheek. He felt himself flush red and looked won again until he has finished his mouthful. He prepared himself to look back into those entrancing eyes again.

"You're down late!" she smiled, her lips parting slightly. He wanted nothing more than to part those lips further with his…

"Yeah. Yeah I know, no one woke me up. Malfoy just…" he studied her carefully. The pools of green that were her eyes rippled at his friend's name. Or was he imagining it? He'd never seen her eyes show an unplanned emotion before. "…woke me up, 5 minutes ago" he continued.

"Well, that was mean of him!" she exclaimed, her eyes serene and blank again. "I'm sorry I missed the quidditch on Saturday. I didn't get up until twelve"

"Oh its fine, don't worry. Hufflepuff lost by 60 points, which means a good head start for us" He smiled.

"Well done" she said, a cheeky grin forming on her lips. "Well, are you coming to potions, we can walk together. I don't know where Charlie has got to"

They walked slowly, Blaise repeating and putting to memory every word she said in case it was important. He doted on her, opening doors for her and lifting her over the vanishing step in the passageway. She giggled at his jokes and kept touching his arm. Blaise stopped suddenly and looked at her as she turned slowly towards him.

"What on earth are you doing Blaise?" she laughed "come on, we're going to be late" she grabbed his arm and tried to drag him down the remaining stretch of corridor. He pulled her around to face him and gazed into her eyes. They entranced him. The green was so complete; there was no other colour there. The black of her pupils was perfectly defined, and as he looked at her, they dilated. _When in a state of attraction_ Blaise remembered from a muggle book he once read _pupils will dilate and breathing will shallow. _His mind raced. He leant in slowly, brushing his lips against hers. Her lips were warm and soft. She had a small cut on her bottom lip that tasted metallic, a stark contrast to her spearmint breath. He pulled back, looked into her eyes quickly, only to see confusion. Then he walked quickly away to the bottom of the corridor, through the door and into the potions classroom. She entered a full ten minutes later.

The heat-bringer-fire-sun was high in the sun when I rose from the roots of the creaking-bow-white-bark-tree I had slept under. I stretched and felt the blood-clot-fragile-scabs on my back break anew, causing trickles of blood to run slowly over my bare torso. I had been excused from the temptation-flesh-filled-magic-school to hunt in the forest after the warm-salt-blood Snape had given me was not satisfying. Thick-blood-wise-mind-Dumbledore had been understanding. He always was. He told me about a man called Remus Lupin. "He was a werewolf by the time he came to Hogwarts" he'd said "and he passed his exams with flying colours. I'm sure you will do the same". I'd spent the previous night in the forest, carefully watched by giant-blood-open-mind-Hagrid, who appeared to have had a supreme mistrust for me. However, he'd merely watched from a distance to make sure I didn't attack a confused-blood-centaur or a silver-pure-blood-unicorn.

I trotted to the nearby stream and drank a little before throwing some water on my back. A small black-eyed-panicked-mind-rabbit froze on the opposite side of the stream, eyeing me with more caution it would a narrow-mind-human. I merely cocked my head to the side and observed it before turning to walk to giant-blood-Hagrids. I was to say I stayed in his hut as part of a detention.

The night in the dense-magic-life-filled-forest had been satisfying. It was unfortunate that I had scratched deep cuts into my back while removing his shirt in the heat of an attack. I was not yet used to my sharp-strength-nails that were designed purely for gripping prey. My canine teeth had not formed sharp points due to the lack of feeding a day-walker needed. Therefore my only means of killing my victims painlessly were my nails, which could be drawn across their necks in one swift motion, releasing the tide of warm-salt-blood that I so craved.

"Accio shirt" I said softly and a freshly laundered shirt from my dorm landed in my arms. I pulled it over my head roughly, the white cotton strange against my skin. It irritated me. My heightened senses could feel every fibre as I moved. _It will subside,_ I thought, _once the blood has passed through my system._

I sauntered past the lake, seeing other 6th years enjoying their free periods in the crisp-sun-spring-day. The wind blew through the new-leaf-hard-trees softly, the noise crashing over my ears like a violent wave attacking a cliff face. I flinched and walked away into the middle of the grounds where there were no brown-hard-trees to confound my extraordinary senses.

"Charlie" said hot-head-Sarah. I did not turn around, and nor did I flinch. I had felt her curious-straight-path-thoughts as she had walked up behind me.

"Sarah" I replied. I searched for specific thoughts within her mind, and found a permeable mental barrier. I pushed against it gently and it gave way to a torrent of thoughts. _Vampire, Sanguini, humans doubled over deer, moonlight, pale face and dark eyes, pointed teeth._

_Hello Charlie_ she thought. I had never spoken to another being with my mind before, beside Sanguini. His consciousness had been so similar to mine it was easy to blend our thoughts and communicate. However, to avoid overwhelming hot-head-bright-Sarah with my instinct to kill, my frustration with my senses, I would need to be far more careful. _I would have preferred you to ask permission before entering my mind you know_ she continued, smiling thoughtfully as she gazed into his eyes.

_Yes_ I replied_ but it was necessary for me to reach into your mind before I could blockade my own to the right level. I do not know how much you know, nor how much you can handle._

_I know enough,_ she replied, her expression now apprehensive as I revealed more of my consciousness. _You feel completely alien… what happened to you?_ She asked.


End file.
